Finance committee  I don't have the numbers, so I can't confirm those.

Finance committee  Sure. The minister in fact just spoke at a conference on the issue last week in Calgary. You're quite right, the program has been in effect just shy of a year. We've now set out 320 points of service across Canada to provide information with respect to labour market conditions in Canada and information in order to connect prospective immigrants with professional associations in Canada that will allow them to become aware of what the rules and procedures are so that they can start the process before they actually come to Canada.

Finance committee  Yes.

Finance committee  It's quite clear that the issue we were just talking about for foreign credential recognition is going to be an important consideration as we proceed to develop our instructions. It is for that reason that we are going to need to discuss very closely with the provinces what they view as priority occupations.

Finance committee  No, because she must, and we must, make sure there is a balance across those three objectives of economic competitiveness, family reunification, and protection to those in need. It is not one at the expense of the other.

Finance committee  No, the statute does not specify certain percentages. But she is required to abide by that objective that's laid out in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

Finance committee  I think it's also useful to point out that at the moment we have established some priority processing for certain family classes. Indeed, the processing of those tends to proceed on a fairly expeditious basis. What we're faced with is a backlog of some 600,000 in the federal skilled worker category, where the processing times, as the minister described, can be up to six years.

Finance committee  From our perspective, it will provide us with that additional flexibility we require in order to bring the Canadian system up to the level of some of our competitors, those other immigrant-receiving countries such as Australia and New Zealand. We think it will provide (a) the sort of budgetary investments that will be helpful, and (b) correct some of those structural deficiencies that currently exist in the legislation.

Finance committee  The minister has talked as well about the instruction process requiring a fairly broad consultation with interested stakeholders. Once the legislation is passed, assuming it is passed, we will then need to engage in that consultative process with those stakeholders. I would include among them the provinces, the territories, business groups, labour groups, and other interested parties who are probably very well placed to give us a sense of those occupations that are a high priority for Canada.

Finance committee  It's difficult to say in terms of the instruction process. Clearly, our objective is to finalize the instructions as quickly as possible, ideally by early fall, so that we can begin that process. That's sort of a rough timeframe, but we do still need to map out exactly what the consultation process will look like and what sorts of steps that will involve.

Finance committee  I'm not going to comment on the accuracy or inaccuracy of that.

Finance committee  I guess, Mr. McCallum, that would depend on the context in which they were arriving. As the minister described in her remarks, the government is moving to implement a program that will facilitate the movement of foreign students and certain temporary foreign workers into permanent residency in a much faster manner.

Finance committee  The system or the new program will be in effect very soon.

Finance committee  That's correct.

Finance committee  I think what the minister was referring to in her press release was the fact that in the year 2007 there was a record number of people who entered Canada under a variety of different classes. Yes, there was a large increase in temporary foreign workers year over year, reflecting a fairly large economic growth in some--